› added 1 year ago

118

TIL In 1914 astronomers at the Royal Observatory made a careful study of the transit of Mercury in order to determine whether Mercury had any moons and essentially proved that the planet has no moon

Read more rmg.co.uk

via reddit.com

nwOb TIL: It has been theorised that the myth of the Cyclops came about when Greeks discovered dwarf elephant skulls and misinterpreted the trunk cavity as a single eye socket.
yVegw TIL the US has lost 29% of it's total bird population since 1970 due to pesticides on seeds.
oRxJo TIL: The Sea Peoples were a confederacy of naval raiders who harried the coastal towns and cities of the Mediterranean region between c. 1276-1178 BCE
Mev0m TIL about the battle of bamber bridge 1943 an out break of racial violence between black and white american military personnel due to the white MPs trying to enforce jim crow laws the 3 pubs in the town responded by putting up signs that said black troops only
b9Dr7 TIL that Abraham Lincoln was almost in a saber duel with James Shield on September 22, 1842 until John J. Hardin and Dr. R.W. English ceased the hostilities between the two.